Hearts Adrift
by LivingTheSPNLife
Summary: For the IchiRuki Big Bang! College AU. Ichigo was an ice skater who lost the will to continue the sport after an accident. Taking on the role of a journalist, he wanted to find a new inspiration. All the while, Rukia is a dancer who has lost her inspiration to dance. When the two meet, can they ignite the fires of the other's passion?
1. The Tomato Juggler and the Dancer

_"Orange hair?"_

 _"I've seen that hair before… You must be Ichigo Kurosaki."_

 _"I was hoping you would sign up for this."_

 _"You must think you're so cool."_

 _"Let's see how well you do on the ice."_

 _"We'll show you who the best skater really is."_

 _"See you around, Ichigo."_

 _"Ichigo."_

 _"Ichigo? Earth to Ichigo…"_

 _"Ichigo!"_

The sudden shout broke Ichigo from his thoughts. He tore his chocolate brown eyes from his bedroom closet and focused his gaze to the doorway, where Keigo's brown eyes were peering at him with concern.

"Are you okay?" Keigo asked, his eyebrows knitting together as he stepped into the room.

"I'm fine," replied Ichigo with a sigh as he returned his focus to the closet before him. He had to remind himself of what he was supposed to be doing, which was fishing out a coat to wear. He should have already been on his way out of the apartment he lived in, but he had gone and gotten himself distracted by his closet of all places.

A frown made its home on his roommate's lips as the brunette stepped closer. "That doesn't sound very convincing."

"Don't you have homework to do?" Ichigo retorted, shooting Keigo a sour glare as he finally pulled out a jacket and threw it on.

Ichigo wasn't really angry at Keigo – he was glad that his roommate was concerned for him – but it was the questioning that irritated him. He was already running late because of some foolish memory from long ago, and he didn't have time to answer a round of questions.

Keigo never answered, as his eyes had landed on something in the closet. Ichigo could see curiosity sparkle in his eyes as he asked, "Why do you have a pair of ice skates in the closet? And were those what you were staring at when you blanked out?"

A sudden, dull pain flared up in Ichigo's ankle at the questions, and a scowl formed on his face in response. He closed the closet door a little too hard, not wanting to answer.

Thankfully he was spared from answering, as Chad appeared in the doorway. His other roommate jerked his chin behind him. "Ichigo, shouldn't you be going?"

Swiping his keys, wallet, and phone from his bed, Ichigo gave a nod.

"Bye, Keigo!" he called out as he hurried out the room. As he passed by Chad, he whispered, "Thank you," and continued on.

Checking the time on his phone, Ichigo stepped out of the apartment he lived in with his three roommates: Keigo, Chad, and Uryu. Despite having spaced out for a bit, he was not running late like he had thought; he was still on time for the event.

Ichigo was a journalism major, in his third year of college. Being a journalism major, it was only natural that he had sought out a job with the school's newspaper, which led him to the story he was currently working on: a review on their university's talent show.

The posters had advertised that the school had recruited a multi-talented student body for the performances, which he hoped would be true. He was never one for a talent show, but at least it would be bearable if not everyone's talents were singing, dancing, or someone playing an instrument. There were nothing wrong with any of those talents, but Ichigo thought they were so common and overused that it made the show boring.

It wasn't long until Ichigo arrived at the school and took his seat for the show. His editor had scored him a ticket in a middle section, far enough away from the stage that he wouldn't distract the performers as he took notes, but he was also close enough to have a good view. However, he was wedged between a girl about his age with pungent perfume and chatty lips and an older gentleman who would shoot the girl glares and mumble for her to shut up every time she spoke.

The dimming of the lights for the show couldn't come quick enough, though if Ichigo thought it would be enough to shut the girl up, he was wrong.

She leaned close to him, lowering her voice as the MC of the event appeared on stage. "Ichigo, right? You work for the newspaper?"

Ichigo gave a low sigh as he grunted, "Yeah."

"I guessed it from your name badge if you were wondering!"

"I wasn't wondering," he mumbled, keeping his gaze focused on the stage before him. He was trying to listen to what the MC was saying, hoping their voice would drown out the girl.

"Oh… well, how long have you been working there? Do you like it?" she asked, her eyes trained on him.

The man next to Ichigo cleared his throat to draw the eyes of the girl, bringing a finger to his lips as he pointed towards the MC on stage, who was now introducing the first act of the night.

To Ichigo's relief, that seemed to shut the girl up, as she whispered, "Let's talk more after the show!"

He never answered her back, though, as he was enjoying the fact that he could finally do his job.

He sat back in his seat, jotting down the name, year, and talent of each performer that walked across the stage. As each person would perform, he would jot down notes about what they did with their talent and his thoughts. His thoughts, however, were usually about how unique the performance was (juggling tomatoes, singing the school fight song backwards, using your toes to paint a landscape, and performing a dance with a pet squirrel weren't something that he saw every day) or about how repetitive and standard other performances were (though there was an occasional dancer or singer that blew everyone away).

It wasn't until the second half of the show that his rhythm changed. After countless subpar performances that were barely keeping him awake, the MC stepped up to announce one of the final performers for the night. She was a girl about his age, named Rukia Kuchiki, who was to put on a dance performance.

Ichigo didn't have high expectations at the announcement, as a majority of the dancers who had come before her had seemed liked they had thrown together the dance the night before. His expectations didn't change much either as he saw her small figure appear on the stage. She had swept her hair up in a bun and wore a sparkly, flowy light blue dress that fell to her knees.

The white lights darkened for a moment, replaced by a dark blue illumination upon the stage as the music started up. The melody was a soft instrumental, evoking fluid movements from the girl. To his surprise, Rukia was not one of the dancers that seemed to have thrown together a performance last minute. If anything, he thought that the girl must have put weeks of practice into the performance. Each move she performed seemed to have reason and emotion behind it. She was graceful and beautiful, and Ichigo lost himself in her choreography.

Without realizing it, his feet would twitch as he unconsciously would try to mimic some of her movements. Even his fingers were moving along with her, as he had abandoned his pencil and notebook to focus on her. He hadn't felt so invested in a performance in years, not since his accident six years ago.

He only realized her performance had ended when the audience around him burst into a roar of cheers and applause, snapping him of whatever trance he had been lulled into. He shook his head to clear his mind and joined in the applause. His eyes were still trained on her as she bowed to the crowd and quietly walked off the stage.

 _I need to talk to her,_ he decided without really thinking about it.

No other performance even came close to hers for the rest of the night, and he spent most of his time comparing them to the beauty that had been Rukia. In his opinion, she had been a clear winner for first place, though the judges had barely awarded her with third.

As the MC thanked everyone for watching and dismissed them all, Ichigo stood up from his seat. Without thinking, he started walking over to the performers, as some of them had waited at the front of the stage for friends and family to visit them.

He had hoped that would be the case with Rukia, but as his eyes scanned around the stage and the audience, she could not be found.

So with a sigh, Ichigo left the auditorium.

 **A/N: Hello everyone! I hope you've enjoyed the first chapter of this fanfic so far! This is for the IchiRuki Big Bang (Which can be found on tumblr). Along with me in this event was my wonderful partner, Yume, who created the cover art for this fanfiction! Please check it out here:** **post/158088049556/hearts-adrift-by-supernaturaldreamer-college-au.** **Feel free to leave a review with your thoughts! Thank you for reading!**


	2. Enchanted

Ichigo could hardly sleep that night once he arrived back to the apartment. He tossed and turned all night, feeling restless. His thoughts were clouded with the memory of Rukia's routine, and the memory of how easily he'd been enchanted by it. He recalled the feeling of watching her, as well as the feeling of wanting to join her on stage. His fingers and toes twitched as he recalled the choreography.

As Ichigo replayed the choreography of her dance in his head once more, other choreography entered his mind. Different arm and leg movements drifted into his mind, and soon jumps followed. Before Ichigo realized it, he was already beginning to choreograph a similar routine for the ice.

He would silently grunt, turning over in an attempt to focus his thoughts elsewhere. His attempts would fail, and his thoughts would spiral again.

When Ichigo did eventually fall asleep, it didn't last long; he found himself awake and unable to fall back asleep soon enough. When this happened, he turned over in his bed, his hand reaching out to grab his phone from his nightstand. The bright light from the screen stung his eyes as he checked the time. 6:47 a.m.

It was much too early to be awake on a Saturday in Ichigo's mind, but seeing as how he wouldn't be falling back asleep any time soon, he decided it would be time to get up.

Only fifteen minutes later and he was exiting his apartment. He had gotten ready quickly, settling on a quick and easy breakfast – a bagel – before he silently crept out the apartment door, trying not to wake anyone. Keigo was a deep sleeper; he could sleep through a war zone. Uryu and Chad were who he worried about, as both were relatively light sleepers.

Once he deemed his exit successful, he made his way down the stairwell next to the apartment and to the parking lot. It only took him a moment to spot his truck in the distance. He slid into it and drove, deciding to be productive with his day.

It didn't take him long until he found himself in the news room, where the school newspaper was located. As it was a Saturday morning, he knew the room would be empty. All of his fellow journalists would be asleep, and they would be for a couple more hours at the least, leaving Ichigo the room to himself. Not that he minded the quiet, dark news room. His coworkers were kind people, but sometimes it was easier to work on his stories when no one else was around. He didn't have to worry about prying eyes or his editors checking in on him.

Working for the school newspaper, each journalist had their own desk. A school computer was the only piece of equipment aside from a chair to be supplied with the desk. Some people often complained about it, but Ichigo saw no reason to. As long as the equipment worked and was in decent condition, that was all that mattered. Especially not now, when he needed to type up his review of the talent show from the night before.

He logged into the computer, the image of Rukia's routine playing in his head. He pulled out his notes as the computer loaded his information, though he knew he wouldn't be needing them for this review. He had a clear memory of the night, and he already had an idea of what he would be typing up.

As his hands fell across the keyboard, the words flowed right through him. It surprised him how easy the words came, as this rarely happened. He usually spent days working on each story, though it seemed like this one could be finished within the day.

Flashes of images raced through his mind as he typed. He could see images of the tomato juggler, Rukia with her hair pulled up, Rukia's choreography, the girl who danced with her squirrel, the ice rink, the boy who sang through his nostrils, skating on the ice, Rukia, the toe painter, ice skating, Rukia, ice skating, Rukia, and back to the other performers.

By the time an hour had passed, Ichigo took the time to read over what he had accomplished. And he could feel his cheeks heat pink with embarrassment as his eyes glossed over all he had written.

Rather than a review on the talent show, it was turning into a feature about Rukia. And looking at some of what he had just written about the performance, he felt mortified at the thought of anyone reading. He quickly deleted a majority of what he had written, shaking his head in hopes to clear it.

 _What am I doing?_

He gave a heavy sigh, deciding it was time that he take a break for a while until he could clear his head.

He didn't work on it for the rest of the day.

* * *

The following morning began much like the one he'd experienced the day before, with a restless night and an early start.

When Ichigo had awoken, he could see streaks of early morning light streaming in through the cracks of his blinds. He took it as his sign to get ready for the day, so he did. It wasn't as if he would be getting much sleep again, anyway. With a yawn, he ran a hand through his hair and got ready for the day. Since it was a Sunday, he knew none of his roommates would be awake, which was just fine. He didn't want to have to explain to anyone where he was going.

As quietly as he could, he opened the closet, his chocolate brown eyes landing on the old, worn pair of black figure skates. For a moment, he couldn't move to grab them. A sudden dull pain throbbed in his ankle, and an image of ice and blood flashed into his mind with it.

He swallowed and shook his head of the thoughts, reaching into the closet and picking up the pair of skates. He hadn't worn them in six years, and he had a feeling they would be a tight fit, but they would do.

With the skates in hand, Ichigo made a quiet escape from the apartment, bagel in mouth as he slid out the door and locked it. As he made his way to his car, he Googled the nearest ice rink and made his way.

By the time he arrived to the rink he'd chosen, the doors were just opening. No one else seemed to be around other than the owners of the place, who welcomed him as he walked in. They offered him a rental pair of skates upon seeing his old pair, but despite the memories attached to the skates he held in his hands, he couldn't let go of them. Not yet, anyway. He needed the reminder of the pain he had endured, and of the freedom and beauty he had felt over the years.

Putting the skates on gave him a feeling of nostalgia, just like hearing a song on the radio and recalling a memory from years ago, or like speaking about old memories with friends. The figure skates were quite snug, but they would work.

When he was ready, he made his first couple of steps onto the rink, feeling the familiar smooth, slippery ice beneath his feet. He kept a hand on the wall, letting himself get used to the weight on his feet. As he did this, he let his mind drift to the first time he had ever gone skating.

The day had been a cold, bitter one that had shut down school for the day. His mother had chosen to stay home with him, and rather than sitting around doing nothing, she had offered to take him somewhere new for the day. And that day, she had chosen to bring him to their local ice rink. Parents and kids had flooded the place, having had the same idea as Ichigo and his mother.

Holding onto his mother's hand the whole time, he hadn't needed to do a thing. She was the one to propel them around the ice, but she did teach him how to stop as they went along. He had done as she had instructed, doing so with a bright smile on his face, enjoying himself the whole time.

After an hour or so, the two had left, but the experience never left Ichigo's mind. Each day he would ask his mom to go back. He would pull puppy dog eyes and try to bargain with her to get them to go. His mom had always laughed at his attempts to persuade her, though she did eventually promise to take him back whenever she had the time.

Ichigo smiled fondly at the memories as he trailed his hand along the walls of the rink. He slowly dropped his hand, allowing himself to venture onto the ice away from the walls.

His first time trying his hand at skating without holding his mother's hand had been awful. She had instructed him on how to go about skating without the assistance of the wall, but it hadn't seemed to click. When she had released his hand, he kept sliding forward until he slipped and fell backwards, crying until his mother was by his side.

The next set of attempts following his first failure had ended the same, with scrapes, bruises, and little progress. But with his mother by his side, he didn't let the failures get to him. He would use them as encouragement to keep pushing forward to make his mother proud. Eventually, he was able to skate on his own without her help, and he had felt so proud for having done so. His mom had treated him to his first pair of skates after that since she was so delighted.

Ichigo's face grew soft at the memory, his heart aching with sadness. It had been a while since he had thought about how much he missed in his mom. And reviewing the memories in his mind only made him miss her more than ever.

At this point, his heart was feeling heavy, and he could feel a small lump forming in his throat. He took this as his cue to stop for the day, though he knew he would be back on this ice soon enough. Even though the memories of his skating were painful, he still longed for the past. He longed to be back on the ice, performing routines for a crowd. He missed listening to music and discovering a new song that he felt inspired to choreograph a routine to. He missed how freeing his skating experience had always been.

He just hadn't realized it. He had vowed never to skate again, and now, he didn't understand why he had done something so foolish.

* * *

The rest of the week passed by quicker than usual, though Ichigo wondered if that was because he had picked up his former hobby again. He had made it a point to visit the rink twice more that week, spending an hour or so skating around and relishing in the memories of the past and in the memories of the one person who had inspired him to pick it up again: Rukia.

He found it strange that almost a week later, he still had the memory of her performance in his head, as clear as if he had just seen it. This had occurred a few times in his skating career, where he would witness another skater's performance and obsess about it. Sometimes they would be stuck in his head for weeks until he caught sight of another performance by them, or unless he spoke to them about any questions that had roamed his mind about them and their performance.

By the end of the week, he knew he had to talk to her. It seemed to be the only thing that would help clear his head of her. Maybe if he could talk to her and get to know her a bit, he would be okay. He just had to figure out how to do so without seeming creepy. He didn't want to scare her off from accepting a conversation with him.

Since he was reviewing the talent show, he would be able to use that to his advantage. He could use his connections to find her and ask her for an interview. It would be pretty easy once he got into contact with her.

But, as was the case with anything in life, it wouldn't be so easy. He was writing a review, not a feature on Rukia. If he did set up an interview, he knew he would have to put some of what she said into the article. As with anyone he interviewed, he already knew that she would keep an eye out for the paper, waiting to find herself within the article. Now, if he put Rukia into the article, that would cause other problems. She had only earned third place, so he would need to add the first and second place winners in order to make it fair.

He gave a frustrated huff, running a hand through his hair.

 _Damn it._

What else was he supposed to do? He couldn't barge into one of her classes and profess that he was obsessing over her performance so much that he couldn't get it out of his head. He also couldn't just explain to her that she had ignited his passion for skating again. That would freak her out more.

 _I'll make it work._

 **A/N: Here is chapter 2! I do have chapters 3 and 4 written, though they need to be edited and I will get to editing and posting more tomorrow! I hope that you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! Thank you for reading, and please feel free to drop a review to let me know your thoughts!**

 **manusxmachina - I'm so glad that I could provide you with an AU to read! I hope you enjoyed learning a little more about Ichigo this next chapter! You'll find out more about the accident as time goes on, I promise! Thanks for your review!**


	3. Dance Class

By the time Saturday had rolled around, Ichigo had settled on a plan of action: he would just ask her for an interview. He would figure out the details of what to do after the interview after he actually worked up the nerve to ask Rukia to talk, an action that made him feel panicky. At the thought of walking up to Rukia and speaking a basic greeting, his heart raced in his chest, butterflies swarming his stomach.

He decided not to focus on the nervous feelings and decided to do what he knew best: research. He would need to dig up whatever information about Rukia he could for when he interviewed her.

While searching information about the girl, he discovered that they were of the same age and grade. Unsurprising, he had also discovered that she was a dance major with a minor in education. As he searched the school's website for anything about her, he discovered photos from the dance department. The photographs were of the dance concerts they threw on for the year, and of some of their dancers, though Rukia was absent in most photos. She didn't seem to have performed in many of the dance concerts on campus – aside from a concert their freshmen year to commemorate the newest dance majors – which did surprise him.

From the way Rukia had moved on stage, she had seemed like a seasoned dancer. He figured she must have taken years of dance classes, probably spending as much time practicing her skills as she spent in class. He would have easily pegged her to be one of the top dancers of her class, which is why he had expected her to have performed in a myriad of concerts already.

Continuing his search, he did find out she taught dance classes both on and off campus, which could explain her lack of performances. She did have an education minor, so he assumed she would have rather used her time to teach dance to others, rather than to hone her skills in concerts.

It was at her dance classes that he planned to approach her. He was sticking with asking her to an interview to talk, and he would figure out any details about what came after the interview later. He figured he would approach her and ask if they could grab coffee after her dance class, then he could finally ease his mind.

She taught two classes on campus on Saturdays. The first class was taught with a fellow dancer in her class, from 10-12. Her second class was one taught by herself, from 12:15-2:15. Each class was taught in the same room, located in the Center of the Arts building on the eastern side of campus.

Ichigo settled for catching her between the two classes, figuring it would be the best time. He didn't have to worry about speaking to her with her classmate nearby, and he didn't have to worry about her ending class early and leaving before he arrived. It would be perfect.

He arrived to the Center of the Arts around 12:13, making his way towards the room he knew she would be in. As the door came into view, it immediately opened, and a flood of kids from the ages of 5-16 came bursting out. Conversations immediately filled the air, as well as the scent of sweat as kids and their parents passed by him.

As Ichigo moved to enter the classroom to catch a word with Rukia, the sound of someone clearing their throat behind him stopped him. He turned around to see who it was, but for a moment, he didn't see anyone there. He was about ready to turn back around when they cleared their throat again and Ichigo realized he had to look down.

In front of him stood a woman of shorter stature, who had to be a foot shorter than Ichigo. She had short, black hair that poofed outwards at her cheeks, with two long braids. She had bangs that fell across her forehead, falling into her glaring gray eyes, a scowl on her lips.

"Excuse me, sir," she said, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow as she peered at him. "I don't think I saw you check in at the desk around the corner. You need to check in before you can enter the room." She jerked her chin towards the classroom.

"Oh, I'm not here for a dance class," he replied, jamming his hand in his pocket to fish out his newspaper badge. "I just have to talk to one of the instructors… I'm with the school newspaper." He pulled out his badge to hand it to the lady, but she refused it.

"Unless you're faculty, staff, or enrolled in the class, I can't let you in. I don't care if you're with the newspaper or anything. Rules are rules."

"Come on! I won't even be in there for more than five minutes."

"If you don't comply, I'll escort you out with force." The woman placed a hand on her hip and raised an eyebrow, daring him so to say more.

Ichigo stuffed the badge in his pocket, letting out a frustrated exhale. "Fine. I'll sign up for the next class."

"You can try, but I don't think I recall having any room for last minute entries today."

"Can you just tell me where to go to sign up?" he asked, exasperated. All he wanted was to speak with Rukia, was that too hard to ask for?

Without another word, she gripped his wrist tightly and brought him down the hallway. After a series of turns, she led him to this desk, where someone else stood, another woman. This woman had short, messy silver hair, her hands trying to fix it as they stepped up. Her gray eyes looked up to meet Ichigo and his scowling escort.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

Ichigo quickly relayed the situation. "So, could I just register? Or could I get a guest pass or something? I just need five minutes."

A frown form on the front desk worker's lips as she picked up a sheet of paper in front of her. On it, Ichigo could see different names, like a class roster. "I'm sorry, it appears we don't have room for anyone else to join today. Better luck next time."

"Please. I know Rukia, if I could just talk to her a moment, I-"

"You know Rukia?" She seemed to have a realization then. "Oh!" Her eyes scrambled back to the roster as she searched out something. "Are you Renji?"

Here he had the perfect opportunity to get in. Was it wrong? Of course. Renji could stop by at any moment to take the class, but it wasn't as though he planned to stay the whole time. Again, he would need five minutes at most. He just wanted to set up an interview with Rukia.

"Y-yeah… Renji, that's me," he finally answered after a moment, hoping the pause wouldn't look suspicious.

"You should have said something sooner! Rukia told us to reserve a spot for you if you ever wanted to join."

He ruffled the back of his hair with his hand. "I wasn't sure how long she would have the spot reserved for."

"Next time, just ask her! But go on, I won't keep you any longer."

He nodded, mumbling thanks before turning around to make his way back to the classroom. He could still feel the glare of the of the other woman as he made his way down the hall, though he ignored it.

He found the classroom with ease and paused once he stepped through the door, his eyes falling onto the young woman at the front of the classroom. Rukia was shorter than he remembered; he could tell this much even at a distance. She swept her black hair in a ponytail today, her hands tugging it tighter as he stepped in. She donned a black and mint green striped tank top with a black pair of yoga capris, both of which hugged her body in the right places.

 _Stop that,_ he chastised himself. He wasn't there to ogle her; he was there to score an interview.

He felt nervous to approach her, but he knew it needed to be done. With a deep breath, he strode over to talk to her.

But before he could, a group of children dashed in front of him, crowding around Rukia. The ages of the kids ranged anywhere from 6 to 13, each of them exuberantly greeting her, admitting they missed her, and pressing questions about how she was doing, how were her other classes, etc. Rukia responded in turn with greetings and questions of her own.

 _Damn it._

With a heavy sigh, he retreated towards the back of the room. He could only hope that the children would leave her side before the class began, otherwise he would have to go back out to his car and wait for this class to finish. He really didn't want to have to go with that option, as he would spend an hour or so twiddling his thumbs since he hadn't thought to bring homework along.

It was only when the class began that the kids decide to vacate her side and find their places in the room. Ichigo knew there would be no chance to speak with her, so with an irritated look at the kids, he turned to leave.

"Oh perfect, someone's decided to close the door for me," Rukia said, her purple eyes falling on Ichigo.

His steps faltered as she spoke, his eyes searching the room for anyone else who might have been moving towards the door at that time. His search came up empty, and he realized that she was referring to him.

"Oh, I was actually getting ready to leave," he responded, earning the gazes of the people around him. He was the oldest one in here, aside from Rukia. The second oldest looked to be a fourteen-year-old girl in the front.

Rukia appeared unimpressed by his comment, clicking her tongue with a shake of her head. "Don't think you're getting off that easy."

"What do you mean?"

Rukia crossed her arms, a smile tugging at her lips. "You're trying to leave because you're either embarrassed to be here, or because you know you can't compete with those younger than you."

Ichigo arrived to the door at this moment, though he paused to narrow his eyes at her. "You don't know anything."

"Then why are you running? Why did you come here in the first place?"

He didn't have the nerve to reveal his true motive for sneaking into the class. Even though her students were just kids, he didn't have the nerve to ask for an interview. "I don't have to tell you."

She shrugged. "It's okay to admit that you're scared children will outshine you." A chorus of "oh!" echoed throughout the room at this.

His eye twitched. This was not how he pictured the girl who had become his inspiration to act. She was supposed to be kind and less spunky and condescending. How dare she assume she knew him?

"I could out dance these kids any day," he said through gritted teeth.

At his response, a gleam appeared in her eyes, a smile tugging at her lips. "Then prove it."

"Fine," he said, shutting the door with too much force before securing a spot in the room.

 _I can't believe she talked me into staying for the class._

Not that the class wasn't fun, or that Rukia wasn't a good teacher (she was great, if he was being honest), but he just felt so foolish. He was the oldest one there, he was by far the tallest one there, and he was one of the only guys in the class.

Though he had age on these kids, he discovered that he did not possess talent over them. Though younger, the children impressed him, and for some, he struggled to keep up with them. Some were naturally more talented, and others just naturally picked up the counts quicker than he did. It was a surprising challenge.

At the end of class, he had never felt so tired. It had been years since he'd taken a dance class, and with all his skating practice lately, he hadn't been exerting himself as much as he used to. He really had lost a lot of his stamina.

As he wiped off the sweat from his forehead, his breathing heavy, he was just about to consider approaching Rukia. But he didn't have to worry about approaching her, he discovered, as she was already sauntering towards him.

"Not bad," she said with a grin. "From the way you moved, I'd say this isn't your first dance class."

She hadn't phrased it as a question, but Ichigo answered it like one. "No, definitely not." He couldn't remember how many dance classes his mother had enrolled him in to help with his performances on the ice.

"By the way, what's your name? I checked over the rosters for both my classes today, but I didn't see any unfamiliar names."

"It's Ichigo."

She narrowed her eyes, tapping a finger along her chin as she thought. "Ichigo? I didn't see that one, but the name sounds familiar. Did you register today?"

He could lie to her and say he did register today, but he decided he'd done enough lying in one day.

"Um, no," he admitted, running a hand through his hair. "I-"

He paused for a moment. He didn't want to lie, but he also didn't want to seem weird for having snuck in under the name of her friend. Would that show how desperate he had been to talk to her? Would she be glad that at least someone was using the guest pass she'd arranged for Renji?

"They let me in without registering," he finished. It wasn't a lie, technically. They did let him in, and he didn't have to register under his name.

Rukia narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "What do you mean? They can't let anyone in without them registering."

"There's a reason." He dug into his pockets a moment, producing his newspaper badge for her. "I'm with the school newspaper."

She blinked, appearing puzzled. "So you're here for a story? Are you writing about my dance class?" Her eyes widened a moment, her face growing horror-struck. "Did my instructor put you up to this? Am I being graded?"

Ichigo hadn't meant to cause such distress in the girl, and he didn't quite know how to handle it. "I am here about a story, but I wasn't hired by anyone other than my editor," he said, hoping that would calm her down. It seemed to work.

"Oh, okay. Good. Then what's this story?"

He could feel his cheeks heat a light pink as her eyes met his. He felt embarrassed to answer, "I'm writing on the talent show from last weekend. I wanted to know if I could maybe interview you for the article?"

Her eyes seem to sparkle at the idea, her head nodding. "Of course! I feel honored. When did you want to hold the interview?"

He gave a shrug in answer. "Anytime. Today, tomorrow, this week, whenever." Though he really wanted it to be today, he wouldn't rush her.

"Hmm, do I need to dress up for this interview?"

He shook his head, some of his orange locks falling into his face. "Not at all."

She looked down at herself, tucking a stray hair behind her ear. "Maybe we could do it today?"

He nodded in agreement, his heart lurching in his chest at her suggestion of today. "If you wanted, we could grab lunch or coffee and I could interview you."

"Sure, that would be great. Do you mind waiting a bit for me to finish things up here?"

"I can wait."

A smile brightened her face. "Perfect, thank you!"

 _No, Rukia, thank you._

 **A/N: And there is chapter 3 (finally)! I also meant to plug this in a chapter sooner, but here is the link to the lovely art my partner created for this story: post/158088049556/hearts-adrift-by-supernaturaldreamer-college-au. Please check it out! It's absolutely amazing. As always, thank you for reading and please feel free to leave a review!**

 **Ichiruki 4vr - I'm so glad to hear that you're really liking the story! Thank you! :)**

 **Guest - Aww I'm glad that the chapter made you smile! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well!**


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